. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/USA/569 
27 August 2010  
 (10-4485) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6. 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  UNITED STATES
  
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):     
2. Agency responsible:  National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT) (586) 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be  indicated if different from above :    
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [ X ], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:   
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicab le, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  Occupant crash 
protection; motorcoach definitions  (HS:  8708.21, ICS:  01.040, 43.020) 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Federal Motor 
Vehicle Safety Standards; Motorcoach Definiti on; Occupant Crash Protection  (25 pages, in 
English).     
6. Description of content:  In accordance with NHTSA's 2007 Mo torcoach Safety Plan and 
DOT's 2009 Departmental Motorc oach Safety Action Plan, NHTSA is issuing this NPRM 
to propose to amend the Federal Motor Vehi cle Safety Standard (FMVSS) on occupant 
crash protection (FMVSS No. 208) to require  lap/shoulder seat belts for each passenger 
seating position in new motorcoaches.  This NPRM also proposes to require a lap/shoulder 
belt for the motorcoach and large school bus driver's seating positions, which currently are 
required to have either a lap or a lap/shoul der belt. Although motorcoach transportation 
overall is a safe form of tran sportation in the United States, several motorcoach crashes in 
2008 have illustrated that motorcoach rollover crashes, while a relatively rare event, can 
cause a significant number of fatal or serious injuries in a single event. NHTSA's safety 
research on motorcoach seat belts, completed in 2009, shows that the installation of 
lap/shoulder belts on motorcoaches is practicable  and effective. We believe that the seat 
belt assemblies that would be installed on mo torcoach passenger seats pursuant to this 
rulemaking could reduce the risk of fatal in juries in rollover crashes by 77 percent, 
primarily by preventing occupant ejection in a crash.  
7. Objective and rationale, including the natu re of urgent problems where applicable:  
Protection of human life  
8. Relevant documents:   75 Federal Register (FR) 50958,  18 August 2010; Title 49 Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 571.   G/TBT/N/USA/569 
Page 2  
 
  9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:   }To be determined 
10. Final date for comments:  18 October 2010 
11. Text available from: National enquiry point [X], or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:    
Internet URLs: 
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-20375.htm  
http://edocket.access.gpo.g ov/2010/pdf/2010-20375.pdf